Chapter 24 – Christopher Busch -Suicide report

Christopher Busch committed suicide in November of 1978. On Monday morning November 20, the maid found the front door locked, several papers on the porch and the dogs barking. She went to the neighbor who called his brother. Charles Busch called the Bloomfield Twp. Police Department and met them at the residence. The Township suicide report is attached as Exhibit F.

The King family has several questions regarding the suicide report. Among them are the following:

1. Since Busch had been cleared as a suspect in the Stebbins murder case on January 28, 1977 why was the OCCK Task Force called?

3 Comments

Glad you brought this to light Mr. king. Everything out there points to suspicious at best regarding the “suicide” investigation. The Busch family had a maid in there home …WHY would Chris Busch have a that drawing on his wall and what appears to be blood stained rope in his closet in plain view? Just looking at the actual police report photographs it does look staged.
The other thing that bothers me is having grown up an artistic person and having gone through various drawing classes in college I find it HARD to believe that Chris Bush’s hand drew the picture that looks so much like Mark Stebbins. My brother , who is a CCS graduate, and very talented at drawing people said it looks like it was drawn from a photograph, siting the difficulty of creating the details from memory. Chris Busch was interested in the Culinary Arts but no mention of ever being an artist of any sort. It just does not sit right .

There are so many outcomes that could be derived from this crime scene.

(A) Busch was the OCCK and could no longer deal with the reality of his crimes. His remorse overcame his pathetic fetish and he indeed ended his own life. Leaving behind sure proof in the form of the drawing and bloody ropes to provide closure to the case.

(B) The real OCCK murdered Busch in cold blood and staged the crime scene to frame Busch and shield himself from the crimes.

(C) The wealthy Busch family, aware of their sons atrocities and likelihood of him being the OCCK, arranged for his murder while safely out of the country to end the painful tragedy once and for all.

Let’s explore.

Possibility A
Maybe I’m being too simplistic but the plain facts stated in the suicide report make it very hard to believe that Busch was suicidal. His newspaper was open to the movie guide. He was about to start a new job. The maid said he was happy. He talked about Thanksgiving with his mom. No alcohol present in his system?

Possibility B
I believe this is the most likely outcome based on the following facts: No gun residue on Busch’s hands. The blacked out portions of the suicide scene by the Oakland County Coverup Krew (a new meaning to OCCK) which prevent the view of Busch’s body and the location of where the gun fell after the fatal shot. The picture on the wall and bloody ropes in the closet in potential plain view of the maid. The gun shot wound to Busch’s head is similar to the gunshot wound to the head of one of the female victims…is that coincidence or an M.O. of the real killer? The condition of Busch’s bedroom in the photos indicate that he was a slob to some degree….does anyone really think he had the meticulous patience to spend time ironing the clothes, bathing, and cleaning the toe/finger nails of his victims prior to dumping them? There was no sign of forced entry in the Busch home….meaning that Busch knew his killer. I would bet a large sum of money that the name and phone number of the real OCCK is located in that address book on Busch’s night stand. Where is that address book? Where are the bloody ropes for DNA testing? Were fingerprints lifted from the drawing of the screaming boy? Were any ballistics tests done to verify the angle of the gun was feasible for a suicide? Could the gun have fallen to the position it was found following a self-inflicted shot to the head with a rifle? You don’t have to watch 100 episodes of the Forensic Files to figure some of this out (even back in the 70s)…..PLEASE REMIND ME TO NEVER BE MURDERED IN OAKLAND COUNTY! They might as well have had clown music playing in the background during this investigation!

If Busch really was desperate and remorseful enough to commit suicide, would he really want “credit” for these killings as his legacy? I highly doubt it.

Possibility C
Let’s face it. As parents, we know the ins and outs of our kids personalities. We focus on them for 18 years before they leave the nest and then pray everyday that we did a good job preparing them morally and physically for the world and the scariest depths of life. The Busch’s could not hide from the monster they brought to this world. They knew exactly how messed up he was. I cannot imagine the embarrassment that their son (I cannot even mention him by name) brought to their family. As a successful executive at a big time car company (GM in the 70s was HUGE), I’m sure he made every attempt to sweep this under the rug. I cannot imagine the unspeakable conversations the Busch’s had before they went to bed at night. What do we do with him? Who can help him? What have we done that may have caused this?

However, I think it is highly unlikely that they took the ultimate step to end his life…..and for one sole reason.

I think if the Busch family arranged for the murder of their son, there is no way in hell that bloody ropes and a drawing would have been left behind. With all the Busch’s have done and paid to cover up their son’s crimes, they would have done their homework to destroy any evidence of them. I’m sure the family (or Oakland County!) even had the cottage torn down in 2008 to remove any potential evidence for good.

In closing, I pray every day that Barry King, his family, and all the victims families gain closure soon to this tragic, tragic saga. I was 8 to 10 years old during the horrible events of that time. I would have nightmares about the composite sketches which still trigger fear in me 40 years later. My school picture from 3rd or 4th grade looked very much like the picture distributed of Timothy when he went missing and I was convinced I would be next. I hope the real OCCK (whether it is Busch, his murderer, or one of his cronies) burns in Hell for eternity and beyond.

(D) As is suggested by much of the detail in the case, Busch had an accomplice in these crimes. The accomplice likely being the other suspect who lured the children into the car or close enough to be overcome. Busch and the accomplice (whose name and contact information is probably located in the address book on Busch’s night stand or desk), with public and police pressure being amped up at the time, had some disagreement over the threat of being caught. The accomplice feared that Busch was close to caving in to the pressure and turning them both in. The accomplice is the Co-OCCK (along with Busch) and the murderer of Busch to assure their unspeakable secret is never exposed.

Possibility D
I think this is probably the better possibility than B. Busch, at face value, does not appear intelligent enough to commit these crimes and escape a mountain of public and police pressure alone. However, his unthinkable, pedifilic fetish also makes it impossible to conclude innocence. At a minimum, he probably knew something that could hold the key to the case. At a maximum, he wholly participated in the crimes….from the kidnapping to the deviant sexual behavior to the “babysitting” to the murder to the dumping. The dropoffs usually occurred at the wee hours of the morning. The meticulous accomplice (who probably had an artistic talent to draw as well) likely prepped the bodies while Busch handled the dropoffs. I would be interested to know his work schedule at the time. His private embarrassment over his fetish with young boys probably led his pea brain to believe he could “confuse” investigators by kidnapping and murdering a few girls. Again I hope anyone associated with the horrific acts burns thru eternity in hell.